On Tuesday Bill Clinton announced that his foundation has brokered a deal with Indian pharmaceutical companies to provide generic AIDS drugs in developing countries. Sub-Saharan Afria will obviously provide a huge market for these drugs.
There are perhaps a few of lessons to learn here. The first is that it is unlikely that these Indian companies, Cipla and Matrix, would be doing this were it not in the long run going to be profitable. Doing good and doing well do not have to be mutually exclusive concepts. The second lesson is that serious global leadership — from Clinton, from France — clearly played a significant, deciding role in brokering this deal. In an era when debates over the efficacy of development policies are strident and harsh, it is useful to see a clearcut example of policies that almost assuredly will have some direct positive effect in Africa and elsewhere. Finally, good for Bill Clinton. If this is the sort of thing that his foundation does, this might be a sign of a long and successful post-presidential career.
